Ladies and gentlemen, Ross Wade is leaving the building.
Wade, the assistant director of career services for Elon University’s School of Communications, announced he will be leaving Elon March 1 to begin a new job at Duke University as assistant director of career services for the masters of engineering program.
“This is a great opportunity to learn a lot of new skills,” Wade said. “And I live in Durham and the office is a 10-minute walk from my home, so this job came with both a lot of professional and personal advantages.”
Wade received his master’s degree in counseling from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro before accepting his current position at Elon. He said he would miss working with the students the most.
“The students have been the best part of the job for me,” Wade said. “And it was a pleasure to watch them go from being students to becoming alumni and maintaining contact with them in their professional careers.”
Frank Garcia, a junior at Elon, first met Wade through a job opportunity.
“I met him through the Elon Academy,” Garcia said. “He was a leader on one of our retreats that helped prepare us for college. He gave a recommendation to my current employers and has always been a helpful and upbeat guy.”
Wade came to Elon in June of 2008, and was the first career adviser for the school of communications.
“I’ve been able to flourish in this position because I’ve been allowed to try a lot of different things to see what works and what doesn’t,” Wade said. “I was supported by the faculty right away, and I’m so thankful to have been able to have the time I’ve had at Elon.”
In Wade’s new position at Duke, he’ll be aiming to take advantage of being a self-proclaimed lifetime learner.
“I’ve maximized this experience and I’ve gotten everything I can from it,” Wade said. “The position I’ll be taking at Duke will allow me to continue learning everything I can while continuing to help students, and I suspect I might be there for about 3-5 years like I was here.”
Wade feels like he’s gained more knowledge at Elon than he would have if he started his career at another school.
“Elon is a very close community,” Wade said. “And that leads to a greater sense of responsibility. Everything I’ve learned I’ve learned from students.”
Garcia felt that Wade has a bright future ahead of him.
“I’m sad to hear he is leaving,” Garcia said. “But I have no doubt he is off to do bigger and better things.”
According to Wade, he has greatly enjoyed each moment spent at Elon and can’t recall too many low points. He’s passionate about what he does, and he said he would miss the students and faculty he’s gotten to know while he’s been here.
“I’d like to be remembered as someone that was good at what they did because they love what they do,” Wade said.